NowThis Developer Docs

Welcome to the open-source documentation for NowThis.

This site provides technical guidance for developers looking to build, fork, or contribute to the NowThis iOS client.

What's New in 26.8

The 26.8 release brings NowThis to five more languages, and changes the shape of the version number to get there.

• Five new languages — NowThis is being translated into German, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch. This reaches further than the interface: Siri's spoken replies for all seven voice commands, every reminder and location notification, all twenty sync and sign-in error messages, and the Apple Calendar permission states were previously assembled as plain strings that no translation system can see. Each is now a proper template.
• A new version number — This release is 26.8, not 1.0.6. NowThis now uses calendar versioning: the two-digit year and the month the release was cut, so 26.8 is August 2026 and the next is 26.9. A fix inside the same month adds a third number (26.8.1). The 1.0.x line ends at Build 16; the jump is deliberate, not a mis-tagged release.
• One word per concept — A list of tasks is now a List everywhere; it had been a "Task List" on the widget and Focus screens and a "calendar" in two sync errors. "Calendar" now refers only to the Apple Calendar the app mirrors into. Finished tasks read Completed throughout, and "Done" now means only the button that closes a sheet.
• Menus no longer show stored identifiers — Sort options, Smart Lists, the default-view picker, filter builder fields, the Month/Week switch and recurrence presets were displaying values stored on disk. They now show a separate label, so translating them is safe and nothing about what is stored changes.
• Filters survive translation — Saved priority filters stored the word shown on screen and would have matched nothing once that word changed language; they now store a fixed code, and filters saved by earlier versions still work. Focus filters let you pick lists instead of typing their names, so renaming or translating a list no longer breaks them.
• Fixes — "Repeat Hourly Until Completed" now stops when the task is completed or deleted, from the app, Siri or the widget. Completed tasks sync correctly on Buddhist and Japanese calendars, and are hidden from the calendar's day view when "Show Completed Tasks" is off. Removing a second account no longer creates a duplicate Recovered Tasks list, and journal previews render exactly what you wrote.

What's New in 1.0.5

A companion Apple Watch app, unlocked by a one-time NowThis Pro purchase.

• NowThis on your wrist — Browse your tasks and complications for free. A one-time NowThis Pro purchase (no subscription) turns on checking tasks off and adding them by voice. Watch edits reach your server as ordinary pushes from the iPhone; there are no CalDAV or server-side changes.
• Restore Purchases — Available in Settings → NowThis Pro for a device you've bought on before.

What's New in 1.0.4

The 1.0.4 release focuses on faster task entry, rock-solid Nextcloud sync, and smarter due dates.

• Add tasks by voice — Natural-language quick-add via Siri: dictate one sentence ("buy milk tomorrow at 5pm") and NowThis parses the title and due date/time. The same parser powers typed Quick Add.
• Faster task entry — Single-tap to add on any list, an inline quick-add field on every list, and smart new-task defaults (app-wide and per-list default due date and time).
• Reliable two-way Nextcloud sync — Server-side creates, edits, completions, and reorders now reach the device and widget automatically; manual ordering round-trips via X-APPLE-SORT-ORDER; subtasks sort and reorder under their parent; fresh installs sync the last 3 months of completed tasks by default.
• Smarter due dates — Every due date shows a time slot (all-day tasks read "· All day"), all-day (date-only) due dates now show the correct day, and an All Day toggle flips a task between all-day and a specific time.
• Clearer sync errors — Plain-language banners for sign-in, connection, permission, and temporary server problems.
• Stability — The Kanban board no longer crashes when a task is deleted during sync.

Core Architecture

NowThis is written in Swift 6 using SwiftUI for the user interface and SwiftData for local persistence.

Key technical pillars include:

• CalDAV Sync Engine: A custom-built, actor-isolated sync engine (CalDAVClient) that supports background fetching and ETag-based inbound change detection with conflict resolution.
• Natural-Language Parsing: A shared NaturalLanguageParser turns free-text and Siri dictation into structured title + due date/time, powering both Quick Add and App Intents.
• Local Vault: A completely offline mode that bypasses the network layer, storing everything securely on-device.
• Geofencing: Location-based task reminders driven by CoreLocation and UserNotifications.
• App Groups: Shared state between the main app and widgets using iOS App Groups.

Getting Started

NowThis uses XcodeGen to avoid merge conflicts in .xcodeproj files. To build the project locally:

1. Clone the repo from GitHub.
2. Create a Local.xcconfig file from the template and add your Apple Developer Team ID.
3. Run xcodegen generate to create the .xcodeproj file.
4. Open the project in Xcode and run.

Sync Deep Dive

Our sync engine communicates with any standard CalDAV server (with first-class support for Nextcloud). It uses a pull-then-push strategy:

1. Fetch latest changes via REPORT requests.
2. Resolve conflicts using ETag matching.
3. Push local changes via PUT requests.
4. Refresh the local SwiftData ModelContext.

Security & Privacy

We take privacy seriously.

• No analytics SDKs or tracking frameworks are included.
• All credentials are stored in the iOS Keychain using kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlockThisDeviceOnly, which keeps them on this device only and unreadable until the first unlock after boot.
• Network requests are strictly authenticated and validate redirects to prevent token leakage.

License

NowThis is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3). For more details, see the LICENSE file in the repository.